Russia—as a great power, an emerging market and an energy heavyweight—is intriguing. Both Russia and the post-Soviet space tend to be somewhat volatile and impenetrable.
The Russia/NIS Center, however, casts light on this region. Created in 2004, it anticipates new developments, enriches public debate and empowers decision-making on issues related to Russia and the New Independent States (NIS).
The Center regularly publishes papers on a wide array of themes, from central issues (such as the interaction between foreign policy and energy policy) to topics that are more innovative in France such as the Russian government’s attitude to internet governance, and the competitiveness of Russian universities.
The Center’s digital collection Russie.Nei.Visions (set up in 2005 and available in Russian, English and French) has become an important resource. Its analyses are widely disseminated via social networks and our researchers have a strong presence in French and international media.
Since the Center’s fouding, Ifri has hosted several top political representatives and key economic players in the Russian/NIS space. Attendees at Ifri’s seminars and conferences, include former Ukrainian presidents V. Yushchenko and V. Yanukovych, former Georgian president M. Saakashvili and Russian Minister for Economic Development A. Ulyukayev.
The Center maintains a strong presence in the field, staying close to public authorities and multinational firms in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) area. It has also developed many partnerships with think tanks and research institutes in Europe, the United States, China, Japan and the post-Soviet space.
Director of Ifri's Russia-NIS Center
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Research Fellow, Russia / NIS Center
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Research Fellow, Russia / NIS Center
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Project Officer, Russia/NIS Center
Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
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Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
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Associate Research Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
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Associate Fellow, Russia/NIS Center and Geopolitics of Technologies Program
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Associate Fellow, Russia/NIS Center
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The two years preceding the Russian invasion of Ukraine suggested that Russia had adopted a measured policy toward the post-Soviet space. Faced with social protests in Belarus, a coup in Kyrgyzstan, the victory of pro-European president Maia Sandu in Moldova, the second war in Nagorno-Karabakh...
For its 41th edition, RAMSES 2023. Europe at War, written by Ifri's research team and external experts, offers an in-depth and up-to-date analysis of geopolitics in today’s world.
Despite the unprecedented sanctions against Russia following Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022, no important member of Russia's ruling circles has defected.
Ukrainian institutions have overall withstood the shock of the war: the central government and local authorities benefit from a real legitimacy and a solid ability to govern.
On February 24, 2022, eight years after deploying an integrated military and non-military indirect strategy against Kiev, Vladimir Putin decided to initiate an open war against Ukraine.
The strengthening of the partnership between Russia and Iran depends on overlapping security interests; bilaterally, regionally and on the world stage.
The escalating crisis in Ukraine in the winter of 2021-2022 has returned US-Russia relations to center stage.
Russia’s Islam has been much more than the two Chechen wars, and regular terrorist actions that have shaken the Russian territory. Islam constitutes an integral part of Russia’s history and culture, and the Putin regime regularly celebrates Islam’s contribution to the country and its great...
Since 2014, Russia’s policies toward Kaliningrad Oblast—its westernmost region located between Lithuania and Poland and physically cut off from Russia’s main body—have undergone notable transformation. One crucial change was the inception of a policy aimed at remilitarization, which has...
Year after year, Russian liberal politicians and experts have been promising radical changes in Russia’s economics and politics, which, they believed, would lead to the collapse of the Putin regime.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine last February provoked a war of attrition that is still ongoing. In the meantime, the conflict has fueled intertwined economic, humanitarian, energy and food crises. This discussion aims to discern the conflict's immediate and future effects.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has shaken the foundations of Western foreign policy and the multilateral rules-based order. Institutions built to preserve this order – like NATO, the G7, and the EU – have had to rethink their threat assessments and postures. France, Germany, Italy, and the UK have...
More than a month after the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, Igor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, will speak on the current military situation and the prospects for...
Since 2014, Ukraine's territorial integrity and security have been challenged by Russia's annexation of Crimea and by the conflict in Donbas. Military maneuvers in spring and October 2021 have raised the threat of open armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Kyiv, on the other hand,...
After four years of a Trump presidency marked by “Russiagate”, the election of Joe Biden at the end of 2020 marks a new turning point in Russian-American relations. While the change in the American administration allowed the New START treaty on strategic arms reduction to be saved in...
Global power competition, growing unpredictability, mounting military pressures, hybrid threats and the persistence of terrorism... Europe is now facing a deterioration of its strategic environment.
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A "Les Jeudis de l'Ifri" videoconférence around Tatiana KASTOUEVA-JEAN,...
The access to space sector is no longer limited to the historic pioneers of the space adventure nor to the sole states. Exploration projects stimulate imagination and national narratives and trigger important investments in ambitious innovative projects.
The EU-Russia relationship, which has been deteriorating since 2014, has recently experienced various shocks, such as the poisoning, then imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny and the failure of EU High Representative Josep Borrell’s diplomatic visit to Moscow. Judging by Russian...
A "Les Jeudis de l'Ifri" videoconference around Tatiana KASTUEVA-JEAN, Director of Ifri's Russia / NIS Center.
Kyiv expects new recruits to appear within two months but Moscow struggles with training and logistical obstacles.
Following the last Ukrainian victories over the Russian Army in the Kharkiv oblast, Russian administration currently faces controversies. As a matter of fact, many question the degree of intensity Russian general staff has decided, avoiding for now general mobilization. According to Dimitri...
As elections approach Sunday, the far-right candidate is linked to the Russian president by a web of financial ties and a history of support that has hardly dimmed despite the war in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the port city of Mariupol, located on the Sea of Azov, has been of great strategic interest to Moscow. Vladimir Putin has made it a symbolic objective.
Renault had for months been plotting to export a newfangled version of the Lada to the reste of the world. although realising that ambition remained some way off, it would have capped the revival of a brand arguably more synonymous with the Soviet Union than any other and which Renault first...
Officials in Beijing believe it can take advantage of a distracted US and weakened Russia. The war in Ukraine is far from over, but a consensus is forming in Chinese policy circles that one country stands to emerge victorious from the turmoil: China.
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In January 2022 Kazakhstan underwent its most serious political crisis since its independence, proclaimed on December 16, 1991. The increase in the price of fuel has set ablaze the west of the country in the grip of socio-economic marginalization, then the southern regions, traditionally more...
Data on the concentration of Russian troops was solid; the diplomatic offensive executed by Moscow was deliberately disagreeable; yet, many experts (myself including) refused to accept the proposition on the coming war as “inevitable”.
Western powers appear unable to thwart Putin’s strategy to reassert Russian influence
Rarely in recent years has the Kremlin been so popular with European visitors. French President Emmanuel Macron arrives Monday. The Hungarian prime minister visited last week. And in days to come, the German chancellor will be there, too. All are hoping to get through to President Vladimir...
